Monday, August 6, 2012

Rundown

I have been anticipating this day for three months.

Summers are tiring in a house full of 10 kids. There isn’t enough to do to keep everyone busy and out of trouble for months on end, and in a state that is kill-you-hot during the summer, that means a lot of long hours in the house...

Luckily we made it through the vacation months with fantastic kids and very little real drama.

June and July had me looking forward to today, the first day of school. In my mind, school means hours and hours of free time during the day. And more than free... Quiet... Ahhh...

But school brings its own kind of work.

Let me run you through what the first day of school looks like in our unique family.

Andy walks six elementary schoolers, and one Joey in a wagon, to school

7:35

Two high schoolers walk out the door to their bus stop

7:38

Blend up a green smoothie (my new favorite thing) and wiggle into my gym clothes

8:30

CrossFit with Andy - spent a lot of energy working on my push ups (in other words, I'm horrible at pushups and tried to not be so horrible at them), but showed off my awesome pistols (one-legged squats)

9:30

Chase down Joey, who has stripped himself naked while Andy and I were working out and is running wild in the parking lot (don’t worry - it is a closed parking lot and big kids were playing with him)

10:00

Blah, blah, blah

11:00

Lunch for Jack and Joey

Put dinner in the crockpot

12:20

Naps for everyone!

1:50

Andy walks back to school to fetch kids

2:20

Chaos ensues

Papers to sign. Oh the papers to sign.

Homework

Make snack (popcorn and chocolate/peanut butter/banana/kale smoothies with coconut milk!)

Handle THREE meltdowns over reading

Listen to Joey laugh hysterically as he played “school” with our 1st grader

Sympathize with tears over missed friends (five of our kids had to move to a new school this year)

4:15

Run to Target for additional school supplies needed

Wonder why I thought school would be easier than summer

5:15

Andy plays tee ball with Jack and the kids at home

Get kids started on showers

6:15

Dinner on the table

Remind everyone AGAIN about table manners

6:45

Chores

Mayhem

Noise, noise, noise

Almost scream a number of times

7:15

“Go brush your teeth!”

Hide in the bathroom for three minutes, until patience has been calmed and prepared for the last few minutes of the day

7:30

Bedtimes stories for all!

8:00

Send to bed

Tuck in Jack and Joey

Prayers and back scratches for the girls

Head scratches and more prayers for the boys

8:15

Find Andy for a brief hug and high-five

Quickly get the day on paper

Marvel at the sweet exhaustion of family life

8:40

Snap the laptop shut

Get out the ice cream

Watch the Olympics

9:30

Shower

Collapse in bed

10:20

Realize that I didn’t make lunches for tomorrow and decided, oh well, what’s one more thing to do tomorrow?

And that is it.

Tomorrow is another day. Another series of hours connected by joy, frustration, crazy and serene. Another day to love and make mistakes and do my very best to... do my best.

And now, to my sweet dreams. Minus the remembering that I didn’t make lunches part.

Here's what I read between the lines:- Eight lunches packed = eight kids that will know in the middle of the stress of a new school or school year that they are cared for.- "Go brush your teeth!" = you are valued and we want you to value yourself.- After school snack = we are in this together.- Paperwork and school supplies = I am paying attention and your success matters.- Listening ear, backs scratched, heads scratched = love, love, love- CrossFit, Ice Cream, Olympics = you are taking care of yourself, too.

Blessings, strength, and energy to you as you tackle the next year... one day at a time.